Panchang in Diffa, Niger Sun 28 Dec 2014

The Moon gains on the Sun about 12° a day. Each 12° of lead is one tithi: 72°–84° is the 7th, Shukla Saptami. A day takes the tithi in force at its sunrise, 06:30 here. Shashthi ended at 10:24 Sat, before it. Saptami ends at 08:23, when the lead reaches 84°. The lead passed 0° at the new moon of 22 Dec, so the Moon is waxing: Shukla paksha.

The night of Sat 27 Dec ran from sunset 17:51 Sat to sunrise 06:30, 12 h 39 m. Cut into 15 muhurtas of 50 m, its 14th is Brahma Muhurta, the one before the last.

Daylight here, 06:30 to 17:51, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 25 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The night here, 17:51 to 06:31 Mon, splits into 8 choghadiyas of 1 h 35 m. Their names follow a fixed order that starts from the weekday, and each name is counted good, neutral or bad.

The fixed stars divide the Moon's path into 27 nakshatras of 13°20′, each in 4 padas of 3°20′. Uttara Bhadrapada spans 333°20′–346°40′; the Moon entered its pada 1 at 333°20′. It leaves at 02:05 Mon, for Revati.

Add the Sun's and the Moon's places among the stars: 252.3° + 335.3° = 587.6°, one full turn and 227.6°. Past the turn, cut into 27 parts of 13°20′, it gives the yoga: 226°40′–240°00′ is the 18th, Variyana. It ends at 02:23 Mon, then Parigha.

A karana is half a tithi: 6° of the Moon's lead, so the first half of Saptami is Garaja and the second Vanija. Garaja ended at 21:20 Sat, when the lead reached 78°; Vanija runs until 08:23.

A Hindu day runs from one sunrise to the next, not midnight to midnight. This one runs 06:30 to 06:31 Mon, so the hours after midnight still belong to Raviwara.

An amanta month runs from new moon to new moon and takes its name from the rashi the Sun is in at the new moon that begins it: Dhanu gives Pausha. The Sun enters Makara on 14 Jan, inside the month. The next new moon, 20 Jan, finds it in Makara and begins Magha.

A purnimanta month runs from full moon to full moon, so its waning half comes first. It shares its name with the amanta month that its second half falls in: the new moon of 22 Dec, with the Sun in Dhanu, began Pausha. This Shukla paksha reads Pausha in both counts.

A samvat year begins with Chaitra, the month whose new moon finds the Sun in Meena: 30 Mar 2014, 19:44 Sun. Since then the Sun has moved 266.4° round the stars. Vikram Samvat numbers that year 2071; Shaka Samvat numbers it 1936.